SAN: R&D-led transformation, pipeline growth, and efficiency drive strong outlook amid industry change

By Colin Kellaher

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Sanofi have won European Commission expanded approval of their blockbuster anti-inflammatory drug Dupixent for certain patients with the inflammatory skin condition chronic spontaneous urticaria, or CSU.

Regeneron and Sanofi on Tuesday said the approval covers Dupixent in people 12 and older with moderate-to-severe disease who have an inadequate response to histamine-1 antihistamines and who are naive to anti-immunoglobulin E therapy for CSU.

The companies said the green light makes Dupixent the first targeted therapy in Europe for CSU in more than a decade, adding that Dupixent is now approved for patients across seven chronic, inflammatory diseases in the EU.

Tarrytown, N.Y., biotechnology company Regeneron created Dupixent and markets it jointly in the U.S. with France's Sanofi under a 2007 collaboration agreement, while Sanofi markets the drug internationally. Dupixent global net sales topped $14 billion last year.

Regeneron shares were recently trading up 2.4% to $779.71 while Sanofi American Depositary Receipts were up 1.7% at $49.97.

Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com

By Colin Kellaher

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Sanofi have won European Commission expanded approval of their blockbuster anti-inflammatory drug Dupixent for certain patients with the inflammatory skin condition chronic spontaneous urticaria, or CSU.

Regeneron and Sanofi on Tuesday said the approval covers Dupixent in people 12 and older who have an inadequate response to histamine-1 antihistamines and who are naive to anti-immunoglobulin E therapy for CSU.

The companies said the green light makes Dupixent the first targeted therapy in Europe for CSU in more than a decade, adding that Dupixent is now approved for patients across seven chronic, inflammatory diseases in the EU.

Tarrytown, N.Y., biotechnology company Regeneron created Dupixent and markets it jointly in the U.S. with France's Sanofi under a 2007 collaboration agreement, while Sanofi markets the drug internationally. Dupixent global net sales topped $14 billion last year.

Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com

• Halda Therapeutics acquired by Johnson & Johnson for $3.05 billion -- the largest acquisition ever across any therapeutic area for a Phase 1 company
• Scorpion Therapeutics acquired by Eli Lilly for Up to $2.5 billion - one of the highest-value strategic transactions announced in early 2025
• Vigil Neuroscience acquired by Sanofi for a $470 million upfront plus contingent value right (CVR) - advancing a potential breakthrough in Alzheimer's disease
• Capstan Therapeutics acquired by AbbVie for a record-breaking $2.1 billion -- the highest ever for a company with only healthy-volunteer data
• Halda and Capstan each broke industry records in 2025, marking a historic year for Vida and underscoring the firm's ability to identify breakthrough science and support and scale it from the earliest stages

LOS ANGELES & BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--November 17, 2025--

Vida Ventures ("Vida"), a next-generation life sciences venture firm, today announced its fourth major Vida portfolio acquisition of 2025, capping an unprecedented year of strategic exits and reinforcing the firm's disciplined, science-first approach to company building and investing.

Earlier today, Halda Therapeutics announced its acquisition by Johnson & Johnson for $3.05 billion, marking a historic moment for the Vida III portfolio. Halda's first-in-class Regulated Induced Proximity TArgeting Chimera (RIPTAC(TM)) platform represents one of the most innovative approaches in cancer therapeutics. Some of the most promising early signals have emerged in patients with advanced prostate cancer who have failed multiple other therapies, a disease area where the Vida team has long-standing expertise, including foundational contributions to Cougar Biotechnology and the development of Zytiga(R) , a therapy that continues to be a cornerstone of prostate cancer treatment. This transaction now stands as the largest acquisition ever completed across any therapeutic area for a Phase 1 stage company.

In 2025, four Vida-backed companies were acquired by global pharmaceutical leaders focused on developing new treatments for cancer, autoimmune and neurodegenerative disease. In addition to Halda, Eli Lilly acquired Scorpion Therapeutics for up to $2.5 billion, adding a next-generation targeted therapy platform to its growing oncology portfolio. Sanofi ( and ) completed its acquisition of Vigil Neuroscience for an upfront of $470 million plus potential CVR payment up to $600 million, advancing a first-in-class TREM2 agonist with the potential to meaningfully impact Alzheimer's disease. AbbVie acquired Capstan Therapeutics for a record-breaking $2.1 billion upfront, the highest upfront ever paid for a company with only healthy-volunteer data, underscoring interest for in vivo cell engineering.

Collectively, these outcomes reflect not only the strength of individual portfolio companies, but also Vida's multi-pillar investment strategy, which combines deep scientific expertise, disciplined capital deployment, and the ability to engage at multiple entry points across the life sciences landscape. From early platform creation, as demonstrated by Capstan and Scorpion, to later-stage conviction investments such as Halda, Vida's approach is designed to recognize differentiated mechanisms early, support them with technical rigor, and scale value through clinical and strategic inflection points.

"These milestone transactions reinforce the principles upon which we've built Vida, putting patients first and backing the science that can truly change their lives," said Arie Belldegrun, M.D., Founder of Vida Ventures and Senior Managing Director. "When you pair transformative science with disciplined company building and exceptional teams, meaningful value follows. We're proud of what these companies have achieved, and even more excited about what lies ahead across the portfolio."

With Halda and Capstan breaking two industry records this year, the largest-ever acquisition of a Phase 1 company and the largest acquisition based solely on Phase 1 healthy-volunteer data, respectively, Vida has delivered one of the sector's most notable investment years.

"Two record-setting acquisitions in one year - Halda and Capstan - are a powerful validation of our model," said Rajul Jain, M.D., Managing Director at Vida Ventures. "We focus on mechanisms that can fundamentally change patient outcomes. Halda's first-in-class RIPTAC(TM) platform, and Capstan's pioneering in vivo cell engineering approach, each represent bold science that is now showing early signs of clinical impact in patients. I've had the privilege of working closely with both teams, and I'm incredibly proud to see their science advance within global pharmaceutical leaders."

Vida enters 2026 with strong momentum, a differentiated model, and a diversified portfolio poised to deliver continued clinical progress. As biotech becomes more data-driven and capital-efficient, Vida's approach, spanning company creation, classic venture, and a venture-like strategy for public opportunities, positions the firm to continue advancing innovative science and enduring value for patients, partners, and investors alike.

About Vida Ventures

Vida Ventures, LLC ("Vida"), founded by Arie Belldegrun, MD, is a next-generation life sciences investment firm comprised of scientists, physicians, entrepreneurs and investors, who are passionate about building and funding breakthroughs in biomedicine. Vida's mission is to bring science to life and advance transformative biomedical innovations that have the potential to make a meaningful difference for patients. Vida currently has approximately $1.8 billion of capital commitment from blue-chip institutional investors, including top-tier endowments and foundations, sovereign wealth funds, pensions, financial institutions, family offices, fund-of-funds, and high net worth individuals. Vida has offices in Los Angeles, Boston, New York, and Fort Worth and is focused on identifying groundbreaking science and building innovative companies that lead to new areas of drug discovery and development. For more information on Vida Ventures, please visit www.vidaventures.com, on LinkedIn or follow on X @Vida_Ventures.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251117106656/en/

CONTACT: Jean-Philippe Kouakou-Zebouah

Chief Financial Officer/Chief Operating Officer

jp@vidaventures.com

By Mallika Mitra

America's workplaces have been getting safer for more than a century now — cleaner, fewer fire risks, auto shut-off switches on tools, and even eye goggles and steel-toed boots.

Today, the transformation is much more about creating offices and factories that are comfortable and pleasant, places that finally get workers out of the homes that they found refuge in for months — even years — after the pandemic.

"If you have a return-to-office mandate...you also have to woo people back," said Rachel Hodgdon, president and CEO of the International WELL Building Institute, which describes itself as an organization that promotes human health through healthier buildings.

"If you don't, and you just think it's just enough to have a mandate that the butts have to be in seats, you're going to miss out on an entire segment of the population who have said, 'It's a deal breaker for me.'"

Hand dryer manufacturer Excel Dryer had a major goal when it rolled out a package of upgrades to its headquarters, just outside of Springfield, Mass.: Make the building a good place to work.

For Excel leaders, "good" translated to an indoor air filtration system, walls made of plants to pump oxygen, and lighting fixtures that adjust to the time of day. There are even bees and a beekeeper, who harvests honey for employees to take home.

"There's nothing more important than your employees and making sure they're happy because that goes into the product," Excel's chief operating officer, Bill Gagnon, told Barron's.

Certainly, workplaces have been made safer for more than a century, from the early days of the Industrial Revolution in the late 1800s. But the idea of making offices and factory floors comfortable and pleasant is only a decades-old trend.

A renewed push came during the Covid-19 outbreaks. The buzz was about the 6-foot social-distancing rule, air filtration, and access to the outdoors, said Rick Cook, a founding partner of COOKFOX Architects, which designs structures responsive to social, cultural, and ecological needs.

"All of these things became much more prominent and all of us were talking about things like indoor environmental quality and air filtration," Cook told Barron's. "The things the design community was focused on prepandemic became much more popular."

In the years since the lockdowns, companies have grappled with how to get their employees to leave comfy homes and come back into the workplace.

And they have gotten savvier about the building upgrades they make and the amenities the offer, said Hodgdon, of the WELL Building Institute.

Today, companies want their employees to work smarter, not harder or for longer. Productivity and performance are top priorities. For example, healthy food instead of unlimited free food, and ergonomic chairs and standing desks instead of massage chairs.

Like a growing number of companies, Sanofi has a three-day-week on-site policy. In March, the France-based pharmaceutical opened a new U.S. headquarters in Morristown, N.J., roughly an hour outside New York City, to improve attendance.

The building has a healthcare clinic, quiet zones for neurodivergent workers, a fitness center, a bike room, a public restaurant, and a large rooftop where the company hosts farmers markets.

Now, more employees are coming into the office than before the pandemic, Ashley Gross, Sanofi's vice president of global real estate, told Barron's.

"The on-site participation rate of Sanofi employees reflects their satisfaction with the new building," she said.

Sanofi wants to make its manufacturing plants, research labs, and offices worldwide into comfortable and pleasant places.

All the real estate projects, Fernando Faria, global head of workplace transformation, said are to "make the office not an obligation as part of any return-to-the-office policy, but a destination where people really want to come because they feel good, they feel like their health is being taken care of, and their well-being is being taken care of."

Write to editors@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

By Joshua Kirby

Sanofi's Teizeild treatment for diabetics has been given a positive opinion by European Union regulators, paving the way for the treatment to be rolled out across the bloc.

The French pharmaceutical company said Friday that the European Medicines Agency had recommended approval of Teizeild, or teplizumab, for treatment in adults and older pediatric patients with stage-2 type-1 diabetes, or T1D. The treatment aims to delay the onset of stage-3 T1D.

The recommendation follows trial data showing that Teizeild significantly delayed the onset of the next stage of the disease in many patients, Sanofi said.

"We are encouraged by the positive opinion in stage-2 T1D, which represents an important step toward transforming the 100-year-old treatment paradigm for autoimmune T1D," said Olivier Charmeil, Sanofi's executive vice president for general medicines.

Write to Joshua Kirby at joshua.kirby@wsj.com; @joshualeokirby

By Adria Calatayud

Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals said their jointly developed Dupixent anti-inflammatory blockbuster drug achieved primary and secondary goals in a late-stage study for allergic fungal rhinosinusitis.

The companies said Friday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently accepted for priority review a supplemental biologics license application for Dupixent in the condition, an inflammatory disease caused by an allergic hypersensitivity to fungi and can lead to nasal polyps, nasal congestion, loss of smell, and other symptoms. A decision is expected by the end of February, the companies said.

If approved, this would mark the ninth indication for which Dupixent gets FDA authorization, Sanofi and Regeneron said.

The study--conducted in patients aged 6 years and older--showed significant improvements in signs and symptoms, including reductions in nasal congestion and nasal polyps compared to placebo, the companies said.

The drug's safety was generally consistent with the known safety profile in respiratory indications, they added.

Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com